've previously reviewed Mandriva 2009 Beta 1 using KDE 4 as the window manager. I didn't like what I saw. I do believe this wasn't Mandriva's fault, as my gripes were the same for Kubuntu 8.10 Alpha 6 (using KDE 4.1.1). This time, it's the Gnome window manager and this is the last development release before the final version hit the download mirrors on the 9th of October 2008. Hopefully they've got everything right and there won't be many changes between this version and the final one.

I downloaded the Mandriva Linux 'One' version (full filename: mandriva-linux-one-2009-rc2-GNOME-int-cdrom-i586.iso), which acts as a Live CD (this loads the distribution into memory, allowing you to try out the distribution before installing to your hard drive) as well as the installation CD. My unchanging, old, tired, cheap but reliable test rig is made up of the following:

AMD Athlon 3200+ (2.0Ghz)
Gigabyte 939 Motherboard (GA-K8NSC-939)
2x512MB Geil DDR400 Dual Channel
Gigabyte 6600GT 256MB AGP 8x
LG DVD Burner (GSA-4163B)
Seagate 40GB 2MB cache ATA100
Onboard AC97
Logitech G15 keyboard + G5 mouse